


Expected

by my_mad_fatuation



Series: Unexpected [2]
Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M, Parenthood, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 18:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13277073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_mad_fatuation/pseuds/my_mad_fatuation
Summary: On Olly's second birthday, Finn and Rae decide to have another baby.





	Expected

_0 weeks_

Finn closes the door to Oliver’s bedroom after having tucked him into bed on the night of his second birthday. It took longer than usual to get him down, but he finally fell asleep.

Quietly, Finn makes his way downstairs, where he finds Rae picking up toys and gift-wrap off the floor.

“Will you look at all this shit?” she says when she sees him standing there, watching her. “He’s two years old, he doesn’t need all of this! What was everyone thinking?”

“It’s a nice gesture, getting him all these presents,” says Finn, bending down to pick up some tissue paper that had gotten strewn across the room. “And you know how quickly he goes through toys.”

“Yeah, but where are we going to put all of it?” She points to the large toy chest at the side of the room, overflowing with toys—and that’s not including the ones in Oliver’s bedroom.

“We can store whatever he’s not using in the closet in my office,” Finn suggests. “We’ll probably be turning that into another bedroom at some point anyway, right?”

“I suppose…” She drops the soft toy she’s holding onto the ground resignedly, as though she’s given up tidying everything for now.

“Speaking of…” he says as he sets the tissue paper down on the table and walks over to her. “Are you still…?”

She squints, like she’s trying to do mental mathematics. “Yeah, I think so,” she says.

“So, should we…?”

She sighs. “Yeah, all right, just make it quick. I’m tired.”

“Wow, that’s really romantic, Rae,” he says.

“I’m sorry, since when do you need _romance_ to get the job done?”

“What about you, though?”

“I just need to lie there and take it, don’t I?” she says, and he can’t tell if she’s joking or not.

“But we learned in Health class that the chances of success are greater if the woman… you know… finishes.”

“Ugh, but that’s so much _work_ , Finn,” she whines.

“For who?” he asks.

“I’d have to concentrate, and it’s just…” She sighs again. “I just can’t be bothered right now.”

“Look, we don’t have to right now, if you don’t want to,” he says.

“Really? You’re okay with that?” she asks. “I know how much you want us to have another one.”

“Come on, have a seat and relax, okay?” He puts his hands on her shoulders and guides her over to the couch so she can sit down. He sits next to her and lets her lean against him as he strokes her hair.

“I feel like I haven’t sat down all day,” she says. “I know that’s not true, but…”

“You’re allowed to take a break,” he says.

“How do I take a break when I have a two-year-old kid?” she asks with a sarcastic laugh.

“You wait until he’s asleep,” he offers, only half-joking. “That, or you take a night off with your friends every once in a while and let me take care of things. I’m not just a useless man, you know.”

“I don’t think you’re useless, Finn,” she says. “Far from it. You’re amazing, actually.”

“Oh, well, if you say so.” He laughs a little.

“I mean it,” she adds, more seriously, as she lifts her head to look at him. “You’re what keeps this family together.”

“I think you’d manage fine without me,” he says. “But I would hate that. I’m the one who couldn’t manage without you. Either of you.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t have to, then.” She kisses him on the cheek before he turns his face towards her and catches her lips with his.

She is reserved at first, but slowly eases into it as he cradles the back of her head with his hand. “You still feeling too tired?” he asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“I dunno,” she says. “I could possibly be persuaded…”

***

_4 weeks_

“So?” Finn asks when Rae gets out of the bathroom.

She looks like she’s trying not to smile as she nods slowly.

A grin spreads across his face. “Three out of three tests can’t be wrong, can they?” he says.

“I mean, we should still check with the doctor,” she replies, “but I think the odds are pretty good.”

“This is so exciting!” he says as he wraps her in a hug.

“Yeah,” she says unenthusiastically.

He loosens his hold on her and leans back to look at her. “You don’t sound super thrilled about it.”

“No, I am. Of course I am. Only, it’s a pretty big deal,” she says. “I kind of forgot that I’d have to go through the whole pregnancy thing again.”

“Well, I’m here for you every step of the way, remember?” he says. “Even more than last time, now that I, you know, live with you.”

“You almost were living with me last time,” she says with a laugh.

“At least we know what to expect, this time,” he adds. “And we’ve been planning for this. We’re ready.”

“Is it ever possible to be truly ready, though?” she asks.

He chuckles a little. “I guess we’ll have to see.”

***

_7 weeks_

“This is good news, right?” Rae’s mum asks her, looking back and forth between her and Finn hesitantly. “I mean, you wanted this, yes?”

“Yes, mum, we wanted this,” says Rae. She gives Finn an apologetic glance.

“That’s wonderful!” her mum says. “Isn’t that wonderful, Olly?” she adds as she picks up Oliver from Finn’s arms. “You’re going to have a little brother or sister!”

“Or non-binary sibling, depending on who they feel they are when they grow up,” says Rae. Her mother looks at her like she’s not amused.

“So,” she continues, talking to Oliver and ignoring her daughter’s comment. “When are your Mummy and Daddy going to get married, hmm?”

Rae cast Finn another apologetic look. “We’ve been through this. There’s no sense rushing into getting married—”

“Oh, but you’ll rush into having another baby, is that it?”

“A wedding is just a big expense, when we’d rather spend that money on our family.”

“I’ll chip in,” Rae’s mother offers.

“No offence, Mum, but how can you afford to chip in?” says Rae. “You should be saving your money for you and your family, too.”

“But you are my family.”

“We’re not getting married, all right?”

Her mum looks at Finn. “And you’re fine with this, are you?”

“I just want Rae to be happy,” he says.

***

_9 weeks_

Finn turns around in his chair when he hears Rae enter his home office. “You’re home early,” he says to her.

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling well, so they sent me home,” she replies as she bends down to pick up Oliver off the floor. “Oof, you’re getting heavy, Olly.”

“You should sit down and rest,” says Finn. “I’ll make you a cuppa.”

Rae sighs. “That sounds good.”

“Here, I’ll take him,” he adds, standing up to take Oliver from her arms. “You jut relax, all right?”

The three of them head downstairs where Rae takes a seat on the couch. Finn sets Oliver down next to her before going into the kitchen to make tea.

“You know what I was thinking?” he says, popping his head out of the kitchen after putting on the kettle.

“I never know what you’re thinking, Finn,” she says. “The tangents your brain goes off on are baffling to me sometimes.”

“I was thinking about what your mother said, about us getting married.”

“And how did you get to that thought?”

“Well, she got us the new kettle for Christmas,” he explains.

“I see,” she says. “So, what about it?”

“I was just wondering… why aren’t we married yet?”

“You know we can’t afford a wedding, what with another baby on the way.”

“But the bare minimum legal service is not that expensive,” he says. “And then we’d have some security.”

“What kind of security?” Rae asks.

“I dunno,” says Finn. “Like arranging it so that if something happens with us, heaven forbid, I’d still get partial custody of Olly, and stuff like that.”

“But he’s not even—” She stops herself suddenly.

“He’s not even what, Rae?” he asks irritably. “Were you going to say he’s not even mine?”

“No, I just—”

“DNA isn’t everything that makes a parent, you know!”

“I know, all right? I wasn’t trying to say… I don’t know what I was trying to say. I don’t like the idea of us splitting up anyway.”

“I don’t like it either, which is why I don’t see any risk in us getting married.”

“I don’t want to think about it right now,” she says. “Can we discuss this later?”

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll get your tea.”

***

_13 weeks_

Rae is pacing around the room when Finn gets downstairs, having finished putting Oliver to bed.

“It’s okay,” says Finn as he puts his hands on her shoulders. “Just sit down and relax.”

“It’s not okay, Finn,” she says, and continues pacing. “I don’t know why I thought I could do this. This is such a terrible idea.”

“What is?” he asks. “If you’re talking about what happened with Olly, I think you handled it fine, given the circumstances.”

“That’s not it,” she replies. “Or not all of it. I’m talking about _this_.” She points at her stomach.

“Rae,” he says, reaching out and holding onto her arms. “You think _this_ is a terrible idea?”

“You saw what happened today; I screamed at my own child,” she says as she lets her head drop. “I’m not cut out for this, and I don’t think I can do it again.”

“First of all, he was being a little shit. And you apologized, so he learned about the value of a sincere apology. But everyone has those moments, okay?”

“You don’t. You’re always so calm.”

“You’re not here all day, when I’m trying to work,” he says with a sympathetic laugh. “That’s a different story.”

She rests her head on his shoulder as he pulls her in for a hug. “Still, I don’t think I can handle two of them.”

“From what I understand, it’s not that much different than having one.”

“Twice as many diapers.”

“Not forever, though.”

“And twice as many expenses.”

“Not quite. I mean, the rent and utilities will be pretty much the same, and so will the grocery bill until the baby stops breastfeeding—”

“Oh my god, I forgot about breastfeeding,” she says. “For fuck’s sake!”

“Bottle feeding, then,” he adds quickly. “That’s also fine.”

“But that costs more and—”

“We’ve been through all the numbers already. We can handle this.”

“All that means is that we can handle it financially,” she says. “But I don’t know if I can handle it personally.”

“Look, Rae,” he says as he strokes her hair. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. But I think you’re just scared, even though you really want this. Right?”

She nods against his shoulder.

“Scared is okay, because I’m here and I’m going to make sure everything is all right,” he adds. “And if this is what you want, then I’ll do everything in my power to make it work for us, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Why don’t we just put something silly on the TV and chill out for the evening, yeah?” he suggests. “I’ll make some tea.”

***

_17 weeks_

Finn gets home from the grocery in the afternoon and helps Oliver out of his winter coat and boots before Oliver goes running into the other room to see Rae, who is lounging on the sofa, trying to relax.

“I got you some stuff,” Finn says to her when he walks in with a couple bags of groceries. “Lemons, chocolate—”

“Lemons?” Rae asks in disbelief.

“Yeah,” he says. “I remember how much you loved them when you were pregnant. You’d just eat them whole.”

She grimaces. “The thought of going anywhere near a lemon is making me feel sick to my stomach,” she says.

“Oh, sorry.” He hides the lemons back in the bag. “What do you want, then?”

“Pickles.”

“Pickles?”

“Yes, pickles.”

“Are—Are you sure?” he asks.

“I know what I want, Finn. Pickles,” she says. “And prawn cocktail crisps.”

“I thought you hated those.”

“It’s what I want!”

“Okay, yes, of course,” he says. “Can I leave Olly here with you? I’ll be back in five minutes.”

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “I think I can take care of my own son, yes.”

“I just don’t want to leave too much stress on you.”

“You’re stressing me out by talking about stress!”

“Yes, okay, right, I’ll go get your pickles and crisps.”

“Prawn cocktail crisps.”

“Yes, prawn cocktail crisps.”

***

_25 weeks_

After having taken Oliver to get some new clothes at the local shopping centre, Finn and Rae stop to get some lunch at the food court. Finn lets Oliver eat some of his chips, even though Rae packed him some grapes as a snack for their outing. While grapes are usually his favourite fruit, Oliver certainly seems to prefer the chips.

“You shouldn’t let him eat those until he’s eaten something healthy first,” Rae says to Finn.

“It’s a fun day out,” says Finn. “Let him have this one.”

“I hope you don’t let him do this sort of thing when I’m not home all day,” she says.

“That’s our little secret,” he says, and then looks at Oliver. “Isn’t that right, little man?”

Oliver laughs as he squishes a chip in his hand.

“Sometimes I can’t—Oh, shit!” says Rae when she looks up.

“What?” Finn asks, turning his head to look in the direction that Rae is looking. His stomach drops when he sees what she must have seen: her ex.

“What the fuck is Ryan doing here?” she says quietly, covering her face with her hand to try and avoid him seeing her.

But it seems to be too late, because her ex, Ryan, is walking towards them.

“All right, Rae?” he says with a nod. “Finn. Are you two here… together?”

“We live together,” says Rae as she drops her hand.

“Flatmates?”

“Partners,” says Finn.

“Right, well,” Ryan adds, pointing at Oliver. “Whose kid is that?”

“Mine,” Finn replies.

Ryan frowns. “Did you have another one, Rae? You just popping them out like a Pez dispenser?”

“No, just the one so far,” says Rae. “But we’ve got another on the way.”

“Is he mine, then?” he asks as he points at Oliver again.

“I was cheating on you with Finn right before I got pregnant, so probably not,” she says.

“Is that true?” says Ryan, looking skeptical.

“Well, we could get a test to prove that he’s yours and then you can start paying child support payments…”

His eyelids flare in terror for a moment. “You know what, congrats to the pair of you. He seems darling,” he says. “I’ll, er, I’ll see you around, Rae.”

“I hope not,” she replies.

He nods and walks away before Finn and Rae look at each other like they had just dodged a bullet.

“Oh my god,” says Rae. “I was so worried for a moment, there.”

“Yeah,” says Finn. “I thought he was going to try and claim parental rights. What would have happened?”

“I don’t know what the law is, but I doubt the outcome would be in our favour if he wanted a test done,” she says.

“Luckily it seems like he doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

“Let’s just hope it stays that way.”

***

_41 weeks_

When Rae is two weeks past her due date, her doctor suggests that she comes to the hospital and has labour induced. Finn is hesitant about it, but Rae just wants to get this baby out. The two of them have tried every home remedy and are out of alternative options.

Once she is at the hospital, however, they discover that Rae is going to need a Caesarian.

“No,” she says as she starts getting worked up, “I don’t want that. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I’m sorry,” her doctor tells her. She explains how the baby is not in the correct position for giving birth.

“Can’t you just, I dunno, make it turn around?” Finn asks, holding Rae’s hand tightly. “She really didn’t want to get a C-section.”

“I understand that,” says the doctor, “but there’s nothing else we can do. We need to do this, and we need to do it now.”

Rae is crying but nods in agreement. She looks at Finn, who squeezes her hand even tighter.

“It’s going to be fine,” he assures her. “I’m going to be right there with you the whole time.”

“Really? Even when I’m all disgusting and cut open?”

“Yes. Even then.”

***

Finn sits in Rae’s hospital room, holding their newborn baby as Rae sleeps off her anesthetic. When she finally wakes up, she looks over towards them groggily.

“Hey,” she says in a quiet, raspy voice. “Is that…?”

“This is her,” says Finn, angling the baby towards Rae. “Do you want to hold her?”

“I do,” says Rae, “but I’m so groggy right now that I might drop her.”

Finn laughs a little. “I’ll be backup for you, then,” he says as he stands up. He hands the baby over to her, but leaves his arms around hers for support.

“We did it,” she says.

“ _You_ did it, Rae,” he replies.

She looks up at him with misty eyes. “Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you marry me?”

A smile creeps across his face. “Is this the drugs talking?” he asks.

“No—I mean, yes, a little, but no, I’m really asking you.”

“You know that I will, right? Just say the word and I’ll marry you today.”

“Maybe not today,” she says with a painful sounding laugh. “But soon.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” he says. “Now, what do you think her name is?”

***

_5 months later_

“Hey, Charlie,” Finn says as he picks up baby Charlotte from her pram. “Are you ready to be the youngest bridesmaid ever?”

“I doubt she’s the youngest ever,” says Rae’s sister when Finn hands her Charlotte. “She’s probably not the world record or anything.”

“Fine,” he replies. “She’s the youngest bridesmaid at any of _my_ weddings.”

“This is your first wedding,” she points out.

“First and only, knock on wood,” he says, tapping a nearby table with his knuckles.

“I think that’s just a veneer.”

“It still counts.”

“Okay, well, by your logic, Olly is the youngest groomsman ever, too.”

“That is correct.”

“Well, I know that’s not true because my best friend’s dad married a younger man who had a baby nephew who was only two years old and he was a groomsman, so—”

“I don’t care, all right?” he says. “Just let me have my special day, yeah?”

“Fine,” she says. “I’ll take the kids and get them ready. You just enjoy your _special day_.”

***

It was just a civil service and the reception was at Rae’s parents’ house, but Rae and Finn’s wedding was exactly what they wanted it to be. Close friends and family only, and the kids spent the night with their grandparents to give Rae and Finn one night off from baby duty.

“You know what I’m looking forward to now that we have some time alone?” Rae says as she snuggles up to Finn on their couch.

“I’m hoping it’s the same thing that I’m looking forward to,” he replies, stroking her arm.

She looks up at him. “Getting to sleep through the whole night.”

He smiles at her. “My thoughts exactly.”


End file.
